Cruz to speak as the voice of next GOP generation

Updated 12:45 am, Sunday, August 26, 2012

Texas Republican Senate candidate Ted Cruz speaks to the media Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012, in Houston a day after trouncing Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in a runoff.

Texas Republican Senate candidate Ted Cruz speaks to the media Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012, in Houston a day after trouncing Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in a runoff.

Photo: Pat Sullivan, Associated Press

Cruz to speak as the voice of next GOP generation

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Ted Cruz was 10 years old when his hero, Ronald Reagan, became president in 1981.

By his teen years, the son of a Cuban political refugee had memorized the U.S. Constitution and devoured economics classes at the Free Enterprise Institute in Houston.

His college adviser at Princeton University, jurisprudence Professor Robert George, described him as “exceptionally bright, exceptionally poised and exceptionally articulate.”

“What's not to like?” George recalled last week. “He has all the ingredients.”

As Republicans prepare to gather for their national convention in Tampa, Fla., party leaders are betting that Cruz, now 41, has the ingredients to become one of the stars of a new generation of national Republican leaders, born in the final third of the 20th century, raised during Reagan's presidency and devoutly committed to realizing the Gipper's dream of a smaller, less powerful federal government.

“I will go to my grave with Ronald Wilson Reagan defining what it means to be president of the United States,” Cruz said in an interview.

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Cruz, who shocked the Republican political establishment last month by upsetting Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in a runoff for U.S. Senate, will soon get a chance to step out of Reagan's shadow and into the contemporary political spotlight.

The former Texas solicitor general has earned a coveted speaking spot at the 2012 convention, where he'll articulate the political goals of the ascendant GOP generation in its early 40s, which also includes vice presidential hopeful Paul Ryan, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Utah Sen. Mike Lee.

The Associated Press reported Saturday afternoon that because of the threat of severe weather posed by Tropical Storm Isaac, the GOP is delaying the bulk of its Tampa convention activity until Tuesday afternoon.

Republican Chairman Reince Priebus told the AP that the convention will convene briefly Monday and then will immediately recess until Tuesday afternoon, once the storm is expected to have passed.

“He is a rising star,” said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, said of Cruz. “He is not just a smart, articulate advocate. There is some depth there and some lightness afoot (for him) to move from ambitious politician to darling of the tea party.”

But Cruz's ideological zeal and intellectual intensity have drawn criticism from Democrats and liberals who view him as an inflexible ideologue.

“In some cases, he'll vote against the interests of Latinos,” said Lydia Camarillo, vice president of the Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project. “I don't think many Latinos will vote for him.”

But even some Democrats who view Cruz as a far-right conservative say the importance of his rapid political ascent should not be underestimated.

“It would be difficult to overstate the significance of Cruz's primary election win,” Austin Democratic consultant Harold Cook said, “not just because he won, but also because of how he did it.”

Cook said any one of three accomplishments would have made Cruz a star beyond the Lone Star State: his tea party insurgency, his dramatic comeback to defeat a heavily favored veteran politician and his potential role as the second young Latino Republican senator in Washington.

“All three factors combined make him into an immediate national figure if he wins in November,” Cook said. “He'd be a Senate freshman like Hillary Clinton was a Senate freshman” in 2001.

The symbolic value of Cruz's runoff win doesn't stop there. The Houston lawyer's victory over the 67-year-old lieutenant governor also marks a generational shift in the Texas GOP, and the 2012 Republican National Convention will showcase younger grass-roots comers at the expense of veterans of the George W. Bush and Rick Perry eras.

Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak says Cruz — along with Attorney General Greg Abbott and George P. Bush, the 36-year-old nephew of George W. Bush — “represent the next generation of Republicans in Texas. They are conservatives, they understand the grass roots, they understand social media and they can raise money.”

For Cruz, the future is now, and he's polishing his speech.

Cruz's longtime friends say they already know the message he'll deliver in Tampa. It's the same one he learned at Houston's Free Enterprise Institute and debated over beers with other young lawyers in George W. Bush's administration.

“Ted has devoted his career, if not his entire life, to defending the Constitution, promoting limited government and fighting for the rule of law,” said Dallas attorney James Ho, who has been a friend for 15 years and followed Cruz as Texas solicitor general.

Cruz says he plans to lay out the stark contrast between Obama's vision for America and the agenda of Republican hopeful Mitt Romney.